New evidence has been obtained regarding the college admissions scandal as federal prosecutors
have released the incriminating photos that helped Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli
scam their daughters’ way into USC.
What’s up guys, it’s Sussan Mourad back here with Clevver News bringing you all the
news updates from my Clevver home studio, and just when you thought the college admission
scandal was beginning to fizzle out, all new evidence has been released, bringing us right
back to square one.
And in a shocking turn of events we never even thought would leave the courthouse, photos
and email exchanges were released that were part of new court documents filed earlier
this week as part of the FBI’s case against Lori Loughlin and Mossimo Giannulli.
But before we get into all the legalities, I wanted to quickly remind you to make sure
you subscribe to our channel and ring that bell so you never miss a breaking news update.
Alright so where is all of this new evidence coming from and why now?
The evidence, in question, comes after Lori and Mossimo requested to dismiss the entire
case last month, however, in new documents obtained by multiple outlets this week, the
feds claim that there is much more to the case than bribery and that there is no basis
for the dismissal request.
The docs said QUOTE, “The defendants are charged with conspiring to engage in a single,
sweeping scheme to gain admission for their children to college by, among other things,
lying about their academic and athletic qualifications so that complicit coaches, induced by bribes
styled as ‘donations’ to their programs, could purport to recruit them as elite athletes.”
Due to the fact that Lori and Mossimo’s legal team filed the request to dismiss the
case, the feds have now filed a response which includes emails, phone transcripts and photos
of their daughters Olivia Jade and Bella, that reveals their involvement with the scam’s
ringleader, William “Rick” Singer.
The surprising photos include Olivia Jade and Bella wearing workout clothes with blurred
faces sitting on the ERG rowing machines, which were allegedly taken by Lori and Mossimo
and sent to Rick to help them gain admission to the university.
I should probably also mention that neither daughter was involved in any activity that
involved any type of rowing…
So according to the paperwork, Rick sent an email to Lori and Mossimo in August of 2016
that read, “Lori and Moss, I met with USC today.
I need a PDF of her transcript and test scores very soon while I create a coxswain portfolio
for her.
It would probably help to get a picture with her on an ERG in workout clothes like a real
athlete too.”
Mossimo’s response back to Rick read, “Fantastic.
Will get all.”
Also, for those of you confused as to what the hell a coxswain is, Let me educate.
In a rowing crew, the coxswain is the member who sits in the stern (back of the boat) facing
the bow (front of the boat).
I’m just curious to hear from you guys about how far Lori and Mossimo actually took this
whole thing and do you guys think it was pretty inevitable they’d get caught from the get-go?
Chime in down here in the comments.
Apparently this whole thing worked, because just a month later, prosecutors state that
Bella was granted admission to the school as a recruit on USC’s crew team, and that
Rick had emailed Mossimo QUOTE, “Please send 50K payment to the person below," naming
former USC’s Senior Women’s Associate Director Donna Heinel.
Mossimo then asked via email, “For accounting purposes would I categorize this as a donation?”
to which Singer replied, “Yes.”
Shortly after Bella was formally accepted into USC in March of 2017, the documents also
state that an invoice from Rick's bookkeeper was emailed to Lori and Mossimo for a $200,000
contribution to the Key Worldwide Foundation, which happens to be Rick’s non-profit organization.
Mossimo forwarded the invoice to his financial advisor, writing QUOTE, “Good news, my older
daughter is in USC, bad news is I had to work the system.”
Just four months later, a similar action photo of Olivia Jade was sent in for use in an athletic
profile that would falsely present her as a member of the L.A. Marina Club crew team.
They were then instructed to pay the exact same amount for Olivia Jade as they did for
Bella, which Mossimo forwarded to his financial advisor, noting in the email that this was
“the last college donation for his daughter” and also asked if he could write the “donation”
off.
One issue that could’ve potentially started the entire downward spiral of the scandal
was when a counselor at the school told USC during a “routine” call about applicants
that they had “no knowledge” of her involvement in crew and “highly doubted” the possibility
“based on what I knew of her video blogging schedule…”
Both Lori and Mossimo are scheduled to go on trial in October after pleading not guilty
to all charges, any wrongdoing, and have been accused of paying $500,000 in bribes to secure
their daughters’ admission.
Although neither Olivia Jade nor Bella have been charged with any crimes, their parents
will face a maximum of 50 years each and millions of dollars in fines if found guilty.
Looks like we’ll have to wait a few more months to hear the final verdict but that’s
all the news I've got for now, so be sure to hit the comments with any thoughts, and
then click right over here to get the details on Billie Eilish’s thoughts on post-quarantine
life.
I'm your host Sussan Mourad, and I'll see you next time!